Opposition parties blast budget
Posted Feb 9, 2010 10:34 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
The opposition parties say the Tory government is out of control with Tuesday’s budget.
Liberal Leader David Swann says he no longer thinks the government has a spending problem; but rather an incompetence problem.
Swann says that throwing huge amounts of money at health care isn’t a fix. He says this isn’t a money issue, it’s a management issue, adding that given the mess the Stelmach Conservatives made of the public health care system in the past few years, why should anyone believe that more cash will reduce wait times, improve accessibility, or address inefficiencies? Swann says if the government couldn’t fix the health care system with the money they had, another $2-billion isn’t going to address the fundamental shortfall in this province.
The leader of the NDP is also not pleased with the budget. Brian Mason is calling it a fire brigade budget, saying the government once again is rushing to put out another fire that they started.”
He approves of the major boost in health-care funding, however he says to pay for this the government has cut programs for the poor and the homeless.
The budget left Wildrose Alliance Leader Danielle Smith in shock. She says it’s a mistake for the government to nearly deplete a 17 (b)-billion-dollar rainy day fund over three years.
Smith says she doesn’t think this is what Albertans expected, when they sacrificed to put all that money away in Sustainability Fund, which is now being spent. She think what the government has thrown caution into the wind and will continue to spend the way they have in the past, while keeping their fingers crossed that oil and gas prices recover so they don’t have to do anything. In the meantime, she says our savings are going to be blown and debts are going to be quite high.
